Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park is a young adult novel that shows the complexity of teenage love and the impact of race and home life on young adults. Protagonists Eleanor Douglas and Park Sheridan are two complex characters who both struggle with their family life, body image, and self-worth. However, they physically could not be more different. Park is a smaller Korean-American young man who just wants to remain unnoticed by the kids at his school. He wears black exclusively, listens to mixtapes, and struggles with his ethnicity and his feminine looks. Eleanor is a redhead young woman who struggles with bullying about her body at her new school. She’s sarcastic, has a unique sense of style (scarves tied around her arms, men’s shirts with …show more content…
Eleanor, the new girl, gets on the bus, and after not being able to find a seat, is told rather harshly by Park to sit down next to him. As time goes on, the two begin to talk during the rides to and from school. They quickly find that they enjoy each other’s complany. Eleanor states that “they agreed on everything important and argued about everything else” (Rowell 64). Their relationship ends up growing into love, despite the challenges they face on the way. At first, the two rarely talk outside of the bus ride, because of Eleanor’s home situation. Even their conversations on the bus are observed by the other students, who make fun of the couple. But a phone call from the privacy Eleanor’s dad’s house reveals their true feelings for each other. As their love continues to grow, Park continues to challenge his identity, and Eleanor’s home situation continues to worsen. The book’s plot twist ending aches of harsh reality and the sacrifices we’ll make for the people we …show more content…
Parks’ struggle with his identity relates to anyone who struggles with living up to their parent’s expectations or has felt guilty about the way that they think. Park grows up in a well off middle class family. His parents are deeply in love, his grandparents live next door, and he has anything he needs and more. But just because your economical and familial circumstances are good does not mean life perfect. As a shorter, skinnier, slightly feminine guy, Park feels like a disappointment to his father, a tall, strong, capable man. He struggles with dealing with his family’s disapproval of Eleanor and his feelings that her father loves his brother more than he loves him. He feels guilty for judging Eleanor on her looks when he first meets her, and for caring about how Eleanor’s unpopularity rubs off on him. “There were moments,” Park states, “when Eleanor made him feel self-conscious, when he saw people talking and he was sure they were talking about them… and in those moments, [he] thought about pulling back from her.” (Rowell 91) Eleanor, on the other hand, struggles to survive in her terrible domestic situation. Her stepfather abuses her mother, and Eleanor and her siblings are left to fend for themselves. Eleanor’s self esteem is not helped by the fact that her stepfather constantly verbally abuses her and that her classmates make fun of her for her looks. Eleanor is deeply relatable to anyone
Whatever Theodora did or told Eleanor to do, she obeyed and at all times puts effort into pleasing her. For example, when all four of them are in the parlor, “Eleanor thought, She moves like an animal, nervous and alert; se can’t sit still while there is any scent of disturbance in the air; we are all uneasy … Theodora came, moving with grace, circling to a resting spot … how lovely she is, Eleanor thought, how thoughtlessly, luckily lovely” (Jackson 125). Eleanor looks up to Theodora and admires her as a motherly figure in her life; however, these feelings of admiration and lovingness fail to endure the entirety of the novel. Eleanor begins to feel hatred towards Theodora and starts to have thoughts, such as “she is wicked, Eleanor thought, beastly and soiled and dirty… I would like to hit her with a stick, Eleanor thought, looking down on Theodora’s head beside her chair; I would like to batter her with rocks” (Jackson 158). Eleanor begins to have these feelings of hatred towards Theodora because Theodora can be portrayed as a better version of
Eleanor Douglas is a sixteen-year old girl. She struggles with her body image because people constantly make fun of her size. Eleanor also has a terrible life at home. She lives with her siblings, mother, and an abusive step-father in poverty. He abuses her family both physically and mentally by neglecting their family by not providing things such as toothpaste. Despite everything, Eleanor still thinks of her loved ones first and also has a sense of humor.
5. How does Eleanor know that Park is not as stupid as she first thought?
Eleanor and Park’s class not only affects their relationships with their families, but also with each other. Park’s way of expressing his love reflects the loving nature that his family shows him. Park and his father both have an interest in women who are different. Park thinks that his Korean mother “kept the accent on purpose, because his dad liked it” (Rowell 46). Just as his dad marries a Korean woman – someone of a different race, Park starts a relationship with Eleanor – someone different from others. Both women’s appearances are different from their community, and both Park and his father come to love these differences. Park’s love for Eleanor is also expressed more greatly because Park knows love from his family. Unlike Park, Eleanor’s family expresses very minimal love (if any) towards her, which results in Eleanor’s held back love. Eleanor abandons Park at the end of the story like her mother abandoned her. Also, Eleanor keeps her love hidden even at the end when she writes a letter
Firstly, the crucial reveal at the end of the novel where Eleanor and Park’s relationship does not survive despite their constant struggle for it to live is foreshadowed throughout the novel. The novel’s prologue provides the novel’s most blunt foreshadowing, which seems confusing to the reader at first, but, as the reader approaches the end of the novel, the prologue is understood. “Eleanor, gone. He stopped trying to bring her back” (Rowell, 1). Rowell told the readers explicitly on the first page that Eleanor and Park’s love was not going to last, which readers understand when they complete the novel. Rowell also
Jackson portrays the car that Eleanor takes to Hill House as a symbol of the first step to obtaining her long awaited freedom. When Eleanor’s sister, Carrie, refuses to let her take the vehicle to Hill House, she becomes restless and makes the impulsive decision to steal it. With this unlikely act, Eleanor feels that she has, “finally taken a step” (Jackson 10). In her first true taste of independence, Jackson reveals the truth of Eleanor’s hidden nature and makes it easy for people to emphasize with her internal struggle of obtaining freedom. From being
Eleanor, the new girl in town, is described as “big and awkward” (Rowell, Rainbow. 15) with curly red hair and often dressed in men's clothing and flashy accessories, making her stand out amidst her peers. Throughout the novel, Eleanor struggles with not only the other students who constantly harass and taunt her but also with dealing with her stepfather, Richie and bad home life. Park, a half-korean comic book lover knows how to get along with the popular kids at his school, but doesn't fit into their group. He is often seen wearing black and listening to music on his walkman or reading comics. As the novel progresses, Park struggles with figuring himself out.
It is 1986 in Omaha, Nebraska and Eleanor, a big red headed sixteen year old and Park, a half-Korean sixteen year old meet on the bus and realize they have many similarities. Comic books and music from the 80’s rock world pull them together after many awkward encounters. These two out of place teenagers have one amazing love and it makes it hard to stop reading. Eleanor and Park are both smart and know that first loves never last, but they are brave and desperate enough to try. This story challenges the idea of love at first sight, and definitely makes us think about what it means to intensely connect with another person. When Eleanor and Park clicked they didn 't talk, but Park would give Eleanor comics secretly on the bus and sneak them into her backpack. Park also made Eleanor a mix tape of 80’s music so that she wasn’t in the shadows. Eleanor had a rough family life with many siblings and a mother who paid more attention to her husband than her children. Park doesn 't know this but he make Eleanor happy and makes going home easier. Eleanor struggled with bulling in many ways, physically and mentally. Eleanor is a strong girl but it gets to a certain point where she can 't do it anymore. Park helps her through it when he comforts and talks through things with her. With Eleanor’s parents not liking Park and Park’s
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City. She grew up with a wealthy family in the Manhattan boroughs. She was the sister of two younger brothers: Elliott Jr. and Hall. Her parents, Elliott and Ann, were socialites at the top of New York’s society. Although her parents were wealthy, it did not buy them their happiness. Before Eleanor was five, her father broke his ankle while doing somersaults for the county circus. To reduce the pain of his injury, Elliott began drinking more heavily. Because of Elliott’s moodiness and depression, he set out to find a cure for himself. This separated him from all of his children, including Eleanor. Without Eleanor’s father with her, she became discouraged. Her only wish was to make her father happy. Not only was Eleanor upset over Elliott leaving; Anna was as well. Anna was furious with his decisions and started to neglect her children. Eleanor’s education was disregarded, so her mother hired her a tutor. While this was occurring, Anna was diagnosed with an unknown illness. A few weeks after Ann had surgery, she died
2) Teaser: Park, the only Korean in his high school, has spent his entire life feeling like he doesn’t belong. He’s obsessed with music, doesn’t have many friends, and loves comic books. Eleanor, a pale 16-year old girl, has never fit in. Chubby, with bright red hair and a habit of dressing in men's clothing, Eleanor's mere existence is like a glowing neon sign for the bullies in their high school located in the Flats of Nebraska. Everything changes once Eleanor gets on the bus and is forced to sit next to Park. As Eleanor and Park share still bus rides, they begin to learn new information about one another, creating a deep and emotional bond. Once their barrier of silence is broken after Park gives her some songs to listen to, they are propelled into a whirlwind of first love. Eventually, mix tapes are swapped, sparks fly, and soon they're inseparable, living for the minutes they spend together on the bus. But, with love comes jarring
In Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell’s protagonist Park Sheridan was remembering the first time he saw Eleanor. He remembered how he felt embarrassed for her because of the way she looked, but after he realized he liked Eleanor he felt angry. Every time he thought of people making fun of her he got mad. Later on in the story, Eleanor and Park got on the bus. On page 130, the kids on the bus shouted“Go Big Red” at Eleanor. When Park realized they were making fun of her Park got mad and started clenching his fists. The narrator says, “Now, he felt the fight rising up in his throat whenever he thought of people making fun of her”(Rowell 91). Then the narrator says, “He was staring straight ahead. His fists were clenched tight at his sides” (Rowell
“Life is so lonely without him,” Eleanor thought. He was everything and now who knows how long it will be until she would get to see him again. “I miss Park so much,” she said to herself. “Fuck, I can’t even say his name without bursting into tears,” she said.
Eleanor and Richie never had a close relationship. There was always this tension between them. In a way they both knew that they both deeply despised each other. Richie kicked Eleanor out once and finally let her back in ONE YEAR LATER! Eleanor thought that she could practically hide her whole life from him, but she has tremendously mistaken. Richie went through all of her stuff. He went through the make up Park’s Mom gave her, Park’s comics, her casette tapes, EVERYTHING. It turns out that he was the one the was writing the revolting messages on her books the whole time. Richie even wrote on the grapefruit box where she kept all of her stuff. It said, “do you think you can fool me? this is my house do you think you can hore around my neighborhood
Eleanor and Park were on the bus with numerous other kids, but Park’s love for Eleanor enabled him to show courage to her. Eleanor just hopped on the bus and saw Park smiling at her, which made her smile back, regardless of her being in front of everyone else. Tina, a foe to Eleanor, was watching her, but she took the courage
He felt like something warm had spilled in heart.” (110) Then the next chapter is only for the thoughts of Eleanor and the narrator says, “Because all her feelings for him hit and beautiful in her heart turned to gobbledygook in her mouth.” (111). The narrator lets the reader know how Park and Eleanor both feel about one another in different chapters. Another novel that